In part one of this series, we looked at the deals that happened before the final two days of the deadline. Today, we’re gonna look at the deals that happened ON the final two days of the deadline. Let’s do some quick and dirty analysis, shall we?
Diamondbacks trade Edwin Jackson to White Sox for Daniel Hudson and David Holmberg
This was another move that worked out very well for both teams. Jackson thrived under White Sox pitching coach Don Cooper, throwing 196 2/3 innings while striking out 174 and walking 57. Chicago didn’t make the playoffs last year, and were in third place in the AL Central this year after a terrible start, so Jackson was traded to the Cardinals in a deal that netted Chicago pitchers Jason Frasor and Zach Stewart. They’d really love to have Hudson right now, who has been rock solid for Arizona, with an ERA of exactly 3.00 in 234 innings (34 starts), while striking out 190 and walking only 50. Arizona does this deal again ten times out of ten. Without Hudson, they’re not contending for a playoff spot today. Holmberg is pitching well in the minors too, with 117 strikeouts and just 27 walks in 121 1/3 innings for Visalia and South Bend.
Rangers trade Jarrod Saltalamacchia to Red Sox for Michael Thomas, Chris McGuiness and Roman Mendez
Boston had their eye on Salty for years, and finally pulled the trigger last season. He only played in ten games for Boston in 2010, but is the primary catcher this year, and has a .785 OPS in 70 games. I’d say that has solidified the Boston for Boston, with Jason Varitek getting old and starting to break down. The only one of the three prospects doing a whole lot of anything for Texas is Mendez, who has 113 strikeouts in 106 innings for Hickory. Texas took care of their catching issues by trading for Mike Napoli this winter, so they’re not really missing Salty all that much.
Astros trade Lance Berkman to Yankees for Mark Melancon and Jimmy Paredes
The Yankees wanted a dependable DH, and went with the veteran Berkman from the Astros. He was a shadow of his former self in New York, putting up a .707 OPS in 37 games and earning the scorn of New Yorkers everywhere. Naturally, he’s killing it for the Cardinals this year, with an OPS near 1.000. I bet the Yankees wish that’s the Berkman they got. Melancon is closing games out for the Astros now, and has been solid, if not unspecatacular. Paredes was a mid-season All-Star in the Texas League this year, but possesses no patience to speak of. He’s got decent pop for a middle infielder though. It was a decent return for a veteran that the Astros had no need for.
Royals trade Kyle Farnsworth and Rick Ankiel to Braves for Gregor Blanco, Jesse Chavez and Tim Collins
Atlanta tried to knock out two birds with one stone here, and failed. Farnsworth was fine for the Braves, with a FIP of 2.93 getting ignored by fans, who latched onto his 5.40 ERA and gave him hell. He signed with the Rays this offseason, and has been excellent as their closer. Ankiel was a disaster in all aspects for Atlanta, minus his Game Two homer in the NLDS that gave Atlanta the win. As for the Royals return…Blanco was released this season and is now a National, Chavez is languishing in AAA and doing what he does best (proving he’s a 4-A pitcher) and Collins is a mainstay in the Royals bullpen despite walking 38 in 52 innings. He’s probably the best player in the deal when all is said and done.
Cubs trade Ted Lilly and Ryan Theriot to Dodgers for Brett Wallach, Kyle Smit and Blake DeWitt
Unlike this year, where the Cubs stood pat aside from trading Kosuke Fukudome, they made a move on deadline day last year, sending Ted Lilly west. He was excellent for LA last year, posting a 77:15 strikeout to walk ratio in 76 2/3 innings, but the Dodgers missed the playoffs. Lilly has been terrible this season. Theriot was awful for the Dodgers, and is now awful for the Cardinals. Wallach has an ERA near 6.00 this year, Smit is near 5.50, and DeWitt is a middling bench player for the Cubs. Maybe it’s a good thing the Cubs didn’t trade anyone this year, considering the return they got for Lilly.
Pirates trade Javier Lopez to the Giants for John Bowker and Joe Martinez
Lopez was a key reason for the Giants winning the World Series, striking out 16 while walking only two in 19 innings for San Francisco during their playoff run last year. He hasn’t been as good this year, with 34 strikeouts and 22 walks, but the 2.53 ERA is pretty nice. Bowker is currently in AAA, while Martinez is in the Indians organization. This is the type of deadline deal that teams should be looking to make: picking up a veteran bullpen arm for spare parts. Reminds me a lot of the Uehara trade from last weekend by the Rangers.
Diamondbacks trade Chad Qualls to Rays for Matt Gorgen
And then sometimes, you trade for the wrong veteran reliever. Qualls had a 5.57 ERA for the Rays, who made the playoffs but were unceremoniously spanked by the Rangers in the first round. Sadly, that 5.57 ERA was an improvement over the 8.29 mark he had for the Diamondbacks in the first half of the year. Gorgen hasn’t thrown a pitch since the trade, so it’s not as if Arizona is rolling in dough after this one. But trading for a volatile veteran like Qualls can actively hurt your team if you’re not careful.
Red Sox trade Ramon Ramirez to Giants for Daniel Turpen
Another great move from Brian Sabean, picking up Ramirez for a minor leaguer in Turpen. Ramirez helped the Giants bullpen, allowing just two runs in 27 innings despite just 15 strikeouts and 11 walks. Sometimes, you just catch the right guy at the right time, and that’s what happened in this situation. Turpen is now with the Rockies.
Indians trade Jake Westbrook to Cardinals. Padres trade Corey Kluber to Indians and Nick Greenwood to Cardinals. Cardinals trade Ryan Ludwick to Padres.
The Cardinals wanted a veteran rotation arm, and went with Westbrook. He performed abouat as well as you could expect in 2010, with a 3.48 ERA after the break from the Cardinals. He has a 4.83 ERA this year, and St Louis is in danger of missing the playoffs again, like they did in 2010 with Westbrook as their major acquisition. San Diego needed a bat in their lineup, so they got involved in the deal to pick up Ludwick, who was absolutely terrible for San Diego in Petco Park, not even cracking a .700 OPS. He was traded last week to the Pirates for a PTBNL. Kluber has an ERA near 6.00 for Cleveland, and Greenwood is at 4.52 for the Cardinals.
Indians trade Kerry Wood to Yankees for Andrew Shive and Matt Cusick
Wood allowed just two runs in 26 innings for New York, while striking out 31 and walking 18. He was a big part of their playoff march, but the team was ousted in the ALCS by the Rangers. He signed with the Cubs in the offseason. Shive hasn’t thrown a pitch this year, and Cusick is now in the Angels organization. Pretty much, an awful haul from the Indians.
Looking at last season’s trades, one thing comes to the forefront: most of the trades for bullpen arms worked out well, with Ramirez, Lopez and Wood all being dominant for their new teams. Farnsworth and Qualls struggled though, so it’s not a lock that trading for a reliever is going to work out great for your team. Another thing I’ve noticed…it’s often the under the radar moves that work out best, IE the Jackson-Hudson swap as opposed to the Lilly and Westbrook trades. Keep all this in mind as you watch the new acquisitions play on their teams this August and September.
